Sciencast Management LP Acquires 17,568 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 303.7%, acquiring 17,568 shares to hold a total of 23,353 shares, representing 0.8% of its portfolio valued at approximately $3.6 million.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report showed $2.31 EPS, exceeding estimates, while the company is also set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share on September 15th.
• Several hedge funds raised their stakes in Alphabet recently, with institutional investors now holding approximately 40.03% of the stock, indicating significant institutional interest in the company.

Sciencast Management LP increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 303.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,353 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,568 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% during the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,637,000 after buying an additional 13,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Westpark Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $221.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $5.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $239.63. The company had a trading volume of 37,672,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,417,184. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $240.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.